The Cloud Sourcing Team faced a slow, inefficient, and manual RFQ process, leading to data integrity issues and an inability to keep up with a 200% yearly increase in volume.
Integrating a new RFQ management tool within Dynamics 365, Cloud Sourcing automated the RFQ process, reducing manual tasks and enhancing collaboration.
The new automated RFQ tool reduced manual effort by 50%, improved efficiency, and allowed sourcing managers to focus on strategic decisions and supplier negotiations.
Cloud Supply Chain powers the Microsoft Cloud, managing the full life cycle of hardware infrastructure at more than 200 Microsoft datacenters around the world. The Cloud Sourcing organization is responsible for sourcing and supplier management, driving innovation in technology and design to enhance cost efficiency, supply chain flexibility, and strategic advantages. Cloud Sourcing chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 to replace its heavily manual, Excel-based request for quotes (RFQ) process with an automated process that has reduced the team’s RFQ workload by 50%.
Like most enterprise procurement organizations, Cloud Sourcing solicits bids through RFQs. Previously, the RFQ process was manual, relying on Excel templates for suppliers to input price, lead time, and capacity data. “We didn’t really have an RFQ system,” says Alexandra Leon Ung, a Senior Product Manager supporting the Cloud Sourcing team. “We managed the entire process through email and Excel, and each sourcing manager tracked their own RFQs.” The process involved emailing Excel files back and forth, manually updating quotes, and storing them on SharePoint with each sourcing manager tracking RFQs independently.
The process was slow, inefficient, and prone to data integrity issues. With each RFQ taking an average of 75 hours and up to 20 RFQs per quarter, the team struggled to keep up with a 200% yearly increase in volume. Recognizing the need for a better solution, Cloud Sourcing leaders set out to streamline and modernize the process.
Because Cloud Sourcing was already using Dynamics 365 to enable vendor pricing updates and bid management, integrating a new RFQ management tool within the same system was the logical choice. “We had an aggressive timeline,” says Leon Ung. “We wanted a solution in place within five to six months. Dynamics 365 was not only quick to implement, but it also provided the capabilities we needed, integrating seamlessly with other systems to create an end-to-end RFQ process.”
Cloud Sourcing partnered with Microsoft C&E Commerce Financial Platform (CFP) Engineering to drive solution architecture, technical development, testing, and deployment, ensuring a seamless and scalable RFQ management system.
Cloud Sourcing implemented the solution in phases, starting with network sourcing before scaling to other teams. The new RFQ tool standardizes and automates the RFQ sourcing process, providing sourcing managers with a personalized interface in Dynamics 365 to launch RFQs, manage bid revisions, attach documents, and track projects.
Suppliers now use the vendor collaboration portal to submit bids and ask questions, improving engagement and reducing back-and-forth emails. Harshuli Marathe, a Senior Product Manager on the CFP Engineering team, says, “We’ve made it possible for sourcing managers and suppliers to collaborate through the Q&A functionality in Dynamics 365. Now, instead of sending questions and answers back and forth through email, they can have a conversation, and the entire interaction is consolidated in that specific supplier’s quotation.”
With this centralized approach, both sourcing managers and suppliers gain end-to-end visibility into the entire process, from kick-off to final award, ensuring greater efficiency, transparency, and streamlined decision making.
“We’ve made it possible for sourcing managers and suppliers to collaborate through the Q&A functionality in Dynamics 365. Now, instead of sending questions and answers back and forth through email, they can have a conversation, and the entire interaction is consolidated in that specific supplier’s quotation.”
Harshuli Marathe, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft CFP Engineering
When suppliers submit a response to an RFQ, it triggers an automated alert to the sourcing manager. “We don’t have to send emails anymore because we have notifications triggered by events in the system,” says Leon Ung. Supplier responses are automatically consolidated, too. Swetha Chitturi, Strategic Sourcing Manager for Cloud Sourcing adds, “I’m particularly excited about the ‘compare responses’ feature, which allows us to compare multiple supplier quotations side by side.”
“I’m particularly excited about the ‘compare responses’ feature, which allows us to compare multiple supplier quotations side by side.”
Swetha Chitturi, Strategic Sourcing Manager for Cloud Sourcing, Microsoft
The new RFQ tool significantly reduced manual tasks, streamlining the end-to-end process. In collaboration with CFP Engineering team, Cloud Sourcing automated key parts of the RFQ process, including generating introduction letters and templates; drafting emails and attaching documentation; consolidating supplier responses and storing them centrally; managing feedback collection and communication; and automating award notifications to suppliers.
Thanks to the new automated processes, the Cloud Sourcing Team has reduced the manual effort and hours it spends on each RFQ by 50% while streamlining the RFQ process. By eliminating repetitive tasks and enhancing efficiency, sourcing managers can now drive greater impact across sourcing initiatives. “With the time saved using Dynamics 365 to automate the RFQ process, sourcing managers can spend more time making strategic decisions and negotiating with suppliers,” says Leon Ung.
Cloud Sourcing is collaborating with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 team to explore the integration of Microsoft Copilot AI for attachment summarization and comparison across multiple RFI and RFP documents. The team is evaluating whether to implement these capabilities first-party solutions or third-party agents to further enhance automation and efficiency in the sourcing process.
“With the time saved using Dynamics 365 to automate the RFQ process, sourcing managers can spend more time making strategic decisions and negotiating with suppliers.”
Alexandra Leon Ung, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Cloud Supply Chain
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